Metal Heart
by Eveilae
Summary: Naruto is killed by another the Rokubi the SixTailed Demon, and Jiraiya in his desperation brings him to Tsunade. In giving the blonde a metal heart and his life, what else is she taking away?
1. PROLOGUE

_I do not own Naruto or the song Metal Heart._

**No, I'm still working on all my other fics. I've finally gotten on track with **Memories Lost** and the newest chapter for **The Dingo Ate My Baby** is nearly finished. But . . . I love this song, and it just got me thinking. And so, yet another Naruto fic!**

**METAL HEART**  
prologue

**Losing the star without a sky. Losing the reasons why. You're losing the calling that you've been faking, and I'm not kidding.  
****It's damned if you don't and it's damned if you do. Be true, 'cause they'll lock you up in a sad, sad zoo. Oh hidy hidy hidy what cha tryin' to prove? By hidy hidy hiding, you're not worth a thing.  
****Sew your fortunes on a string and hold them up to light. Blue smoke will take a very violent flight, and you will be changed and everything, and you will be in a very sad, sad zoo.  
****I once was lost but now I'm found; was blind but now I see you. How selfish of you to believe in the meaning of all the bad dreaming. Metal heart you're not hiding. Metal heart you're not worth a thing.  
**-cat power

* * *

_Take him, Tsunade. You know you can do something about this._

Pause. Shuffling of papers.

_I can't do this, Jiraiya, and you know it. Even if I could, I wouldn't. What makes him so special that I should save just his life? What makes him more important than a stillborn baby or another shinobi lost in battle?_

Pause. Step. Grunt.

_Tsunade, don't be stupid. You know better than nearly anyone the size of his potential. Why would Akatsuki spend so much of their time on him if he weren't? He could be a great ally for this village, greater than even the Fourth!_

_So could anyone. No one can be compeltely sure of another's fate or future._

Fist slam against wood.

_Damn it, Tsunade! Save him or I'll . . . I'll. . ._

_You'll _what_, Jiraiya? You'll kill me? You've become to emotionally involved with him, as have I. I have to be fair, though._

_Pretend it's your brother, Tsunade. Pretend it's Dan. Just save him. Make up for your—_

_Get out, Jiraiya. Just get out._

Pause. Step. Step. Step.

_But leave the boy here._

_So you'll do—_

_Get out._


	2. Chapter 1: MONSTER

_I don't own Naruto or the song Metal Heart._

**METAL HEART  
**chapter one

**Losing the star without a sky. Losing the reasons why. You're losing the calling that you've been faking, and I'm not kidding. It's damned if you don't and it's damned if you do. Be true 'cause they'll lock you up in a sad sad zoo. Oh hidy hidy hidy what cha tryin' to prove? By hidy hidy hiding, you're not worth a thing.  
****Sew your fortunes on a string and hold them up to light. Blue smoke will take a very violent flight, and you will be changed and everything, and you will be in a very sad sad zoo.  
****I once was lost but now I'm found; was blind but now I see you. How selfish of you to believe in the meaning of all the bad dreaming. Metal heart you're not hiding. Metal heart you're not worth a thing. Metal heart you're not hiding. Metal heart you're not worth a thing.  
**-cat power

* * *

I place a hand over my chest, and I don't feel a heart beat. I let my hand fall back down onto my lap as I sit at the kitchen table.

Nothing looks the same. Not my room. Not Konohagakure. Not the people. It's all changed, along with me. Sakura told me I was more demure and quiet, but she put all that under the category of _growing up_. Three years doesn't quite do that to you. Dying does.

I look down at my plate of ramen, but I don't really feel like eating it. Instead I stand up, shoulder on my black coat, and exit my apartment. I finally realize it's very quiet, which must mean it's rather late. I don't care. I know I won't be able to sleep tonight. Lately, I haven't been needing much sleep anyway.

The moon's bright tonight, lighting up the streets for me. Not a whole lot to light up, really. There's no one around, and all the stores are closed. I sort of wander aimlessly until I find myself in front of the Hyuga household. I wonder fleetingly what I'm hoping to accomplish here, but I know I won't get an answer out of myself. I'm too stubborn.

Stepping past the main door, and through the slight garden that's accumulated ever since Hiashi relenquished his title to his oldest daughter and her husband. I quickly concentrate chakra at my feet—a feat that has gotten easier and I can nearly do in my sleep by now—and I begin climbing the wall towards where I know her room is.

By her I mean Hinata. And no, I'm not going to rape her.

Her window's slightly open and I'm glad. I don't have to do any sneaky ninja tricks to get in now. Peaking into the room, I'm relieved that Hinata's alone. I was afraid she would be sleeping with her husband, despite the lack of chemistry in that relationship. I doubt anyone can have chemistry with a stony asshole like Neji.

I pad towards her bed softly, and I shake the young woman awake quickly. About a second later I find myself knocked to the ground, and bleeding a little from my nose. Hinata's already leaning over me, apologizing like mad, even though it really was my fault. Hinata is a strong kunoichi and I'm sure all the other ones I know would have done the same thing, and then blamed me for it.

"So, what's on your mind tonight, stranger?" She asks smoothly, moving towards her chair now that the little drama is over. She wraps a thick shawl around her shoulders and comes back to sit next to me on the floor. I rest my head on her shoulder and sigh.

"The usual crap. I don't know who I am, what I'm here for . . ."

Hinata wraps an arm around my shoulder. "Don't be silly, Naruto. _I _can answer all those questions. You're Uzumaki Naruto and you're going to be Hokage."

I grunt, since I don't put much faith in those simple answers anymore, and reply snidely. "Well, if you're so smart, _what_ am I?" Hinata knows me well enough by now to not take my tone too seriously.

"Dead-last, of course." Hinata realizes her mistake too late, and apologizes rapidly, but I still find myself sinking even deeper down the rabbit hole of depression. She shouldn't have mentioned anything related to Sasuke. That's just another festering wound that refuses to heal.

"Naruto, are you happy in Konohagakure?" This question is asked suddenly, but I know its been on Hinata's mind for a long time now. It's been on mine as well. I sigh, and push back someof my blonde hair from my forehead.

"I don't know. I mean . . . I'm glad to have Iruka and Kakashi, and you, but . . ."

"It's not enough?" she murmurs gently. I never really had to explain to Hinata about everyone's rejection. She sort of understood without really understanding. She accepted the fact, and accepted me. It's why I love her.

"No, it's not." Even Sakura, who I thought would be the one person to stick with me despite it all, inched away when she heard. Slowly, but surely, she started avoiding me. It took me a while to accept it, but. . . Sakura didn't want to be seen with me anymore.

And suddenly it was my childhood all over again. This time, a million times worse. I knew friendship now. I knew the taste of company and laughter now, and the fact that it was gone completely now from my life was more than I could take.

Then there was Hinata, who talked to me in public, while everyone else looked on with apprehension. There was no one to stop her, to command her to keep better company, not since her father had left her the title of Head of the Hyuga clan. Even Neji's not-so-subtle hints to stop keeping my company were ignored.

This body of mine . . . it just gave people an excuse to think of me as a monster physically as well as mentally.

"Maybe it's best if you . . . if you left, Naruto." She looks up at me with sad eyes, and I can tell she doesn't want to say this. I let her continue anyway, because she probably feels she has to say this.

"And. . . and it's not because I don't want you here . . . because you know I love you. In a complete _friend_ kind of way, of course. I'm not coming on to you, Naruto, okay? I'm just trying to say that . . ." I interrupt her with a raised hand. I get what she's trying so hard to say.

"You think I'll be happier somewhere else? I would agree with you . . . but, where, Hinata? Where do I belong?" I don't want to start crying, but my voice is cracking dangerously.

"Hasn't Sasuke been your obsession for years? Naruto, you a strong shinobi if there ever was one. You can find him. If you like, I could come with—" she hasn't even finished talking and I'm shaking my head.

"Hinata, you have a whole clan to take care of. You can't be careless." I let her arm keep me at her a side for a little while more, and then I break away. "Maybe you're right. I don't know more much longer I can put up with it anyway."

I slip out before she can saying anything uplifting. I love Hinata, I really do, but I don't feel worthy of all the things she says and means. I wonder sometimes if I deserve so loyal a friend.

Out in the night, I note that little has changed. I must not have been in there very long. Damn, not I've got nearly the whole night left. What to do, what the hell to do?

I decide to make true on my idea of leaving, and I head back in the direction of my apartment.

The night gives one too much time to think. It's really annoying to say the least. There are too many bad memories, too much hurt I don't ever want to replay, but the night doesn't let me think of anything but. Sasuke's abandonment of Konohagakure. Sakura's discovery and her reaction to it. Ino's giant monster of a mouth. All these memory smolder inside me until times like these when they come up to hurt and bite at me from the inside.

I know I definitely don't want to think about Sakura, but of course, the fact I make a point of not doing so, my thoughts concentrate themselves on the pink-haired kunoichi. It was all completely accidental. I tried to hide my secret from all of them forever, but for two people as close as Sakura-chan and I were . . . I should have known it would have ended like this.

Training. We were sparring and she managed to straddle my stomach, but instead of taking advantage of this fact, she seemed . . . confused. When she lifted my shirt and saw that metal plate over my heart, I think she knew. She didn't need to see my other metallic limbs, she just knew. There are things that give me away. If you hit my upper arm hard enough, it could break your fist. If you try to choke me, you'll realize it's not skin underneath my high collar. Things like that.

But with one look at that metal plate over that silently clockwork orange of a heart, she realizes. She gets up, and she doesn't need to say one word. Her eyes speak for her.

They say _monster_.

I begin packing immediately.

* * *

**Quick update! Those that are familiar with my writing know how misleading this is. XP Thank you reviewers!**


	3. Chapter 2: ACCEPTANCE

_ I do not own Naruto or the song Metal Heart._

**Yes, yes, last chapter everyone seemed a little OOC, I know, I know. Keep in mind, it's been three or four years, Hinata's Head of the Hyuga clan, Naruto's died and feels barely human, etc., etc. Even so, they're terribly different, but it's only a fanfiction. And now Sakura gets to share the OOC action, yay!**

**METAL HEART**  
chapter two

**Losing the star without a sky. Losing the reasons why. You're losing the calling that you've been faking, and I'm not kidding.  
****It's damned if you don't and it's damned if you do. Be true, 'cause they'll lock you up in a sad, sad zoo. Oh hidy hidy hidy what cha tryin' to prove? By hidy hidy hiding, you're not worth a thing.  
****Sew your fortunes on a string and hold them up to light. Blue smoke will take a very violent flight, and you will be changed and everything, and you will be in a very sad, sad zoo.  
****I once was lost but now I'm found; was blind but now I see you. How selfish of you to believe in the meaning of all the bad dreaming. Metal heart you're not hiding. Metal heart you're not worth a thing.  
**-cat power

* * *

I don't even feel like saying goodbye to Iruka and Kakashi. Really, Hinata can probably come up with prettier words than I can anyway. It feels more permanent this way, doesn't it? I'm torn as to whether or not to pray I will return. I decide that there's no one to pray to anyway, and I turn away.

Sakura.

Is it my imagination or is she standing in front of me? I push at her chest with my hand, and she frowns. "What the hell was _that_ for, idiot?" she growls, and I can almost pretend things are back to normal.

"You're real," I reply simply. Now moving to the next topic of discussion: why?

"Yeah." It seems that those ugly creatures called time and change have caught up to us, and we stand there like awkward preteens.

"I'm leaving," I decide to announce to her. She can tell everyone when I'm gone. They can dance around and sing, _the wicked witch is dead_. I wish them well.

"I know. Hinata . . . she told me." Hinata? I wonder how she knew. Then again, she's always known me too well.

"Oh. Well, here to say goodbye, then? Sweet of you." I can't help but at the last part completely sarcastically. I mean, it's not like she's tried very hard to be kind to _me_, either.

"No. I'm not going to say goodbye." I stiffen suddenly, and I wonder what her agenda is. "I'm coming with you."

Shock is just about the best word to describe what I feel at that moment. "With me? But . . . but . . . don't you hate me?"

She looks relatively embarrassed, and I take that as a good sign. She takes her sweet time to answer. "I never really _hated_ you . . . but. . . I wasn't sure what to think about you, Naruto-kun. I mean, I wasn't even sure if you were human. And with that _creature_ inside you—" I can tell from her tone, all this should be said in present tense.

"How do you know about the Kyuubi?" I demand suddenly, surprised that a mere Chuunin would know something like this.

"I'm Tsunade's apprentice. I learned a lot of things I wasn't supposed to, mostly when she was completely plastered out of her mind."

There's another long pause. I don't know exactly what to say to that . . .

"Well, will you let me come with you?" Everything about her seems to be pleading. Her eyes, her expression, and the way her body is leaning forward slightly . . . even though the childish crush I had developed for her had long-since evaporated, I still can't deny her anything when she really asks.

"Do you trust me?"

She hesitates for a second or two before speaking. "With my life." The two of us know she's lying, but I take her hand anyway, and the two of us head out of Konohagakure.

LINE

The two of us, despite our painfully apparent difference in power, are both decent ninjas. And so, we escape the notice of those guarding the exit of Konohagakure.

What then? We don't have the merest inkling of where Sasuke could be. Maybe it wasn't the _smartest_ thing to do to leave so suddenly. We should have invaded Tsunade's drawers and seen what we could dig out—

"Okay, from what I managed to pick up, it seems Orochimaru—and Sasuke—are probably in the hidden village of the Cloud. There have been definite signs of trouble in those parts, and where there's trouble, there's generally a creepy snake man with an obsession with young boys."

I will admit, I gape for a little while. Has Sakura planned this escape already? Plus, the fact that she is beginning to loosen up is definitely a good sign. One doesn't joke around with what they see as a scrap of metal, do they?

"To the Lighting Nation we go, then," I reply in a faux cheerful voice after an awkward pause in the conversation. _Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work go-_

"Naruto—" Sakura interrupts my thoughts, and I'm surprised to see her gripping the sleeve of my flax jacket. It seems she's just as shocked by her actions because she immediately lets go. You know, it's like some people expect me to burn them. What the hell do they think I am, the _sun_?

"How did it happen?" Her gaze is aimed at the ground, and her voice is soft and unsure. I don't like her like this, a demure and hesitant woman, because it's not what she is. She's a beautifully outspoken, strong-willed, violent mess of feminine determination and virile outrage. I hate masks and objects that show things differently that how they really are. It I had really wanted, I probably could use my limitless chakra to make myself look normal in public, but it wouldn't be me that everyone saw.

I want to be acknowledged, but as Naruto, nothing more or less than that.

"Ask me that as the Sakura I know, and I'll answer," I reply childishly, arms crossed over my chest. She glances up and I see a quick flare of fury in those green eyes of hers, and I know my words worked. That's a skill few others can lay claim to—I can piss Sakura off like nobody's business.

Even so, her voice is controlled and tight when she answers, as she's trying hard to keep herself under control. "Who am I, if not Sakura?"

I snort derisively. "Please. Back in the day you would have smacked me upside the head and _demanded_ I explain myself. Now you're stammering and irresolute?"

Suddenly, all her repressed fury is let loose and her hands fly to her hips. "Well, _forgive_ me for trying to be _nice_! Remind me to never try it again!" She pauses, as if wondering in what direction to take her short lecture, and her fist flies out to make the decision for her. I retreat, holding my injured nose possessively, whining in a high voice about Sakura's violent tendencies.

It actually doesn't hurt all that much at all, but I'm so glad to see Sakura acting normally that I gladly play along with the game.

"What the hell happened to you, Naruto?" Her tone's softer now that she's got that hit under her belt, but she's keeping true to her promise of not being nice to me.

I cough nervously, letting my hands fall to my sides. "I'll just let you know that if anyone asked but you, I probably wouldn't tell them—"

"Hinata knows, doesn't she?" Sakura shoots back, refusing to allow me to the pleasure of being particular to her.

"No. She never asked," I reply pointedly, but without much vehemence behind it. I'm going to end up spilling the beans one way or anything, might as well do it now. "Jiraiya went off, like he usually did. I was left, training and practicing whatever new jutsu he left me that time. Now that I think about it, I never really learned that one, seeing as how I died in the middle and all.

Anyway . . . despite the fact I _am_ one, I never really thought about other Jinchuuriki, except for Gaara, because he's pretty hard to ignore, y'know? Maybe I should of. I feel kinda guilty now, because they've all suffered like I have, or at least I would assume they that they probably would. Even me, the one person who would understand them, doesn't even think of them.

I've thought about it over and over, how this is my punishment for that. How I _deserved_ to have been killed by Risu." I can see Sakura wants to interrupt me with questions, but I cut her off by lifting the palm of my hand. If I stop now, I'll never finish.

"Anyway, Risu-sama came up behind me while I was concentrating, but Kyuubi has a nose for these kinds of things and tipped me off to her presence. I managed to avoid her first blow, which would have probably lost me my head, and all chances of me sitting here right now.

She didn't look human, Sakura-chan. Really, she didn't. I don't know if it was anger or pain or sadness that twisted up her face like that, but I pitied her so much, right then. I knew what she was without either of us having to say a word and I assume she knew I was the Kyuubi—"

"You're _not_ the Kyuubi, Naruto," Sakura whispers, but I pretend I haven't heard her.

"Kyuubi's telling me that I should really call the Rokubi inside Risu _he_, since it was generally male. Only the . . . Jinchuuriki was female." I take a big gulp of air, and I continue. I don't really want to tell Sakura this, but I know I have to. If I want her to full accept me, she has to know me completely.

"She told me she would kill me. Risu told me her name, not that I would remember it for very long . . ."

_Woman. Tall, busty, short green hair, intelligent, but sad, green eyes. On her shoulder is a tattoo of the symbol of the Hidden Village of the Rain._

_There are scars running across it, like someone tried to bleed off the tattoo with a sharp knife, or kunai, as the case may be._

_Around her one can make out a chakra outline, a dark, sizzling lightning yellow in the shape of a cat. From her form is emitted a sort of purr, like the roll of thunder._

_Boy. Short, blonde, bright blue eyes and a curious, but guarded expression. On his forehead is tied the head protector of the Hidden Village of the Leaf. The woman takes this in, and grins a grin lacking any sort of delight._

_She can make out the blue aura, tinted with red like blood. The Rokubi inside her whispers angry directions, and who is she to deny the one person who has cared for her—be it from selfishness or love?_

You're the Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi, aren't you? My Biju says he knows your own pretty personally. He wants to know how he _God_ feels locked in there like the rest of them.

_Her tone is mocking, and she says the word God like a curse._

_Inside the boy, the Kyuubi snarls in response, but the boy holds back the angry reply. _Who are you?

Risu Not that it matters. You're going to be dead soon, anyway._ With that, she runs at him, her speed amazing. The boy can barely dodge her attack before she's launching another one. Her yellow chakra snaps out at him like a whip, and burns his skin like lightning. The Kyuubi howls at the boy to let him out, to leave the fight to him. The boy knows nothing of a battle between demons, and this Rokubi has been his rival for centuries._

_The boy understands rivalry. He knows nothing better. He allows the Kyuubi complete control of his body._

_And soon regrets it._

_The Kyuubi seems to be the easy winner in the beginning, but it's only a ruse of the Rokubi's to lower the Kyuubi's chakra enough for his plan to be carried out. The Kyuubi has too much pride in himself, he's too sure of his victory to expect it. So when there's a hole on his chest, he can only gape down at it in shock as he falls to the ground dead._

_The Rokubi howls in triumph, and in his opened chamber, Risu hugs him and caresses his fur with loving hands. Victory. Pointless as it is, to these two abandoned souls, nothing could be sweeter. The Rokubi allows Risu to once more take control of the body, and she moves over to the boy's corpse to reap their victory on the loser. She's halfway done with removing the right arm when she receives a sudden kunai to the back of the head, and the woman falls over the boy, her blood spilling into his, like the red chakra had done to the boy's blue one, and two and their Jinchuuriki vanquished in one day._

"Jiraiya brought me to Tsunade, who . . . who made me the way I am," I finish lamely, and look up at her expectantly. I can truthfully say I have no idea what to expect from the pink-haired girl.

"Is it true, then? That you have a metal heart?" I reach over to grab her hand, and I feel her flinch, but I don't let it discourage me, despite the fact it makes me want to cry. I zip open the top of my jacket, and I place her hand over the cold metal plate under which my heart lies.

"Do you feel a heartbeat?" She shakes her head, no, she doesn't. I let her hand go, and it's gone from my chest in an instant. As I pull the jacket up over my exposed chest and synthetic neck, I say, "If you were to press your ear against it, I think it would sound more like a clock's gears and ticking hands than a pumping organ full of blood."

She doesn't answer, and soon we're moving on in silence.

**Rather short. Blegh.**

**EDIT! This chapter was tweaked a bit, primarily the flashback scene.**

**Just so it's known, there's not likely to be much romance in this story (ZOMGWTFBBQ!) so there's no NaruSaku or NaruHina, etc., etc. Note the _much_ which tips you off. There _may_ be a pairing or two, but probably not with Naruto.**


	4. Chapter 3: BIJU

_I do not own Naruto or the song Metal Heart._

**Hmm, in the time span of 20 days this fic has gotten more hits than any of my others (including the one with 60+ reviews). WTF? I doubt I just have a trillion lurkers XD…………right?**

**Wow, I feel silly. Only last chapter I was saying _probably no pairings_, and here's one already. ZOMG, a Biju threesome. Watch out. XD**

**NOTE: I tweaked the last chapter's flashback scene, with some details that weren't there before.**

**METAL HEART  
**chapter three

**Losing the star without a sky. Losing the reasons why. You're losing the calling that you've been faking, and I'm not kidding. It's damned if you don't and it's damned if you do. Be true 'cause they'll lock you up in a sad sad zoo. Oh hidy hidy hidy whatcha tryin' to prove? By hidy hidy hiding, you're not worth a thing.  
****Sew your fortunes on a string and hold them up to light. Blue smoke will take a very violent flight, and you will be changed and everything, and you will be in a very sad sad zoo.  
****I once was lost but now I'm found; was blind but now I see you. How selfish of you to believe in the meaning of all the bad dreaming. Metal heart, you're not hiding. Metal heart, you're not worth a thing.  
**-cat power

* * *

_Nataaria hisses quietly as she slinks past the two shinobi, her movements smooth and liquid._

_The Hachibi sighs, and settles comfortably inside Nataaria's mind, fully trusting the girl to know what should be done._

_While the Jinchuuriki is not as concentrated as she normally would be, the ones she is following do not take notice of her. She allows herself to sink into a puddle of self pity and loss, thinking of the dead corpse of Ruukasu, the image now imprinted permanitely onto the back of her eyelids. They'd just left him there whenhis usefulness had expired. It made the bile come up in her throat, but she tried to control her anger._

'Naruto, stop,' the Kyuubi's voice whispers in my head, accompanied by the sight of red fur flashing.

"Huh? Why?" I answer aloud. He tells me.

I stop walking sharply, my mouth falling open as the Kyuubi talks. No, it can't be.

Not again.

"Sakura! Run, just run!" I'm off, pushing at her back, trying to get her to run away. She's frowning, trying to get away from my grip, and screaming at me to calm down and explain what the hell I think I'm doing. There's no time for this, though. Soon they will be here, and I don't know if I can even protect myself, much less my pink-haired kunoichi companion.

Too late.

"Kyuubi," whispers a soft, drawling voice in my ear, and I see the image of a long-faced woman reflected in Sakura's wide green eyes. "Have you missed me?"

Before I can hold him back, the Kyuubi is getting the upper hand, and my hands let go of Sakura of their own accord. Then, to my shock, I'm holding the woman's face in my hand, now, and pulling her lips to mine. We kiss with an odd kind of frenzied abandon, like we'll never see each other again.

All I can do is gape from inside my own head.

Her hands wrap around my waist, a few fingers slipping lower to caress my ass. My own fingers are wrapping themselves up in her hair, greasy, but and surprisingly soft. I can't help but find those hissing purrs she's making very . . . enduring, though.

Eventually, the Kyuubi pulls apart from this stranger, and I let out a sharp string of strong language, none of which anyone but Kyuubi can hear, though.

'Can't you feel her, Jinchuuriki? Underneath this human's skin lies a Hachimata.'

There's a long silence before I answer. 'What the hell is a Hachimata?'

One would think that the Kyuubi would be used to think kind of thing. I mean, it's not like I'm going to spend my time reading up on demons and such. I don't _study_ well, okay?

'I'll call it a snake demon, for your simple little ears. In other words she's a—'

'A Biju. And this woman is a Jinchuuriki, I know, you told me. Can we leave now?' I know I sound like a child, but I always sound like a child, so what's the problem?

'First, I want to hear what has caused her to search me out. Though I am fairly displeased that she has to see me imprisioned like a mere _Nekomata_, this is more important.' He quickly stops talking to me, which makes _me_ fairly displeased, too. And pouty.

"Hachibi, so you've been imprisioned. I don't know what to say." I feel a cruel smirk curl up on my face, but the dark-haired woman doesn't return the smile, but grunts in annoyance instead.

"You, too, Kyuubi-_sama, _have been imprisioned, so I wouldn't _gloat_ if I were you." Although these quips are said teasing tones, Naruto feels the two of them stiffen.

"Rokubi is dead. I think Ichiban might be as well, if the rumors are true." The woman's yellow eyes immediately begin overflow with tears, as if she's been holding them back, and can'tany longer. Her hands dig into the hem of her skirt, as if trying to stop herself from completely losing control.

I can feel Kyuubi's confusion. He hadn't expected her to respond so strongly. My body pulls the woman into my arms, her head laid against my chest, and her tears being soaked up bymy shirt. "You never particularly enjoyed Rokubi's company in the first place, and you barely knew Ichiban, so why do you shed tears for their corpses?"

Muffled though it is, the two of us, Biju and Jinchuuriki, hear her next words well enough. "Sanbi is dead, too."

I feel rather than hear the howl the Kyuubi lets out at this news. I never really thought my Biju could have feelings as strong—or perhaps stronger—for his kind as we have for ours. Whoever this Sanbi is, their death is a sharp blow to both the Kyuubi and this Hachibi.

"There are so few of us left, now, Kyuubi! They're hunting us down like animals!" The Biju-controlled woman is quickly drying her eyes on my shirt, but the look in her eyes when glances up at the me is more than enough to stop anyone from complaining. "Have you heard anything about Yonbi, Gobi or Shichibi?"

"No. Rokubi and Ichiban was the only one I'd seen in nearly a century." A dark, heavy silence falls upon the two Biju. Finally, Kyuubi breaks the silence.

"How did Sanbi die?"

She swallows slowly, and begins. "Just as Nibi was killed. Those _humans_ tore her from her Jinchuuriki, but I think they failed. I couldb't catch her scent, no matter how much I searched."

"So it's not _certain_ she's dead?" Instantly, Kyuubi's hopes are raised, and I feel myself feeling a little better, too. "I have learnt through experience that it is not prudent to trust _your_ nose." He's trying to lighten the mood, but not even an shadow of a smile comes onto Hachibi's face.

"She's dead, Kyuubi. I would _feel_ her if she weren't, just as I feel you. You haven't seen her in quite a while, but try. Try to find her essence." In response, I feel Kyuubi kind of slip away, and I find myself in control of my body once more.

I quickly push Hachibi away from me, frowning. Immediately, I turn to look at Sakara, who's looking on with an expression akin to fear on her face. I wish she would have heeded my warning and run. "Sakura, keep back," I call out, still backing away from the woman.

"Who are _you_?" I ask her loudly, but she completely disregards me, instead looking up at the darkening sky. She looks so sad, and almost _tired_. Like she's been through too much, and now the only thing she wants is rest.

Much too quickly, the Kyuubi replaces me, and looks at Hachibi sharply. "I . . . I cannot sense her."

'Who is this Biju, Kyuubi? Answer me!' I cry out, desperatingly searching for any kind of answer.

'She is one of my lovers, and my equal,' he growls angry, his red chakra flickering at my unsubstantial heels. 'If you wish for me to _allow_ you access to your own body, I suggest you respect her.' I don't particular like that threat, especially since he's showing that he definately can back it up.

Both our attention is drawn back to Hachibi when she touches my arm softly. "Kyuubi, I only came to tell you this, so I think we should part now. Before I leave, though, I have some advice for you. I can see that . . . that you're having a power struggle with your Jinchuuriki. I suggest that you get on better terms with him. Nataaria and I both accept and care for one another—"

"Get on better terms with _him_?" Kyuubi and I find each other thinking simultaneously. He's evil; he's killed and killed and killed. I don't want to be _friends_ with him.

"Males," Hachibi scoffs, shaking her head. I watch helplessly as she seems to notice Sakura for the first time. "You, human girl. What are you doing with the Kyuubi, anyway?"

Kyuubi turns my head to look at the kunoichi as well. She seems to waver suddenly under these suspicious looks, but manages to get something out. "I . . . I am . . .N-Naruto is—"

Kyuubi interrupts her quickly. "My Jinchuuriki is traveling with her. They're . . . friends."

The two of them seem lost in thought for a little bit. "Kyuubi, remember that time—"

"—in the canyon, with those human girls?" He laughs gleefully."I was thinking of that time, too."

A small smile finally flickers onto her face. "It was the best sex of my life. Nataaria, though, is getting offended. She thinks we shouldn't have killed them."

The two of them share cruel, happy laughter, like that of two lovers, trying desperately to forget a fatal wound.

"I'll be going, then, Kyuubi." It's obvious she's leaving only reluctantly, but nonetheless, she is backing off.

"Hachibi, why should you? How long has it been, and you're willing to stay for so short a time?" My body begins inching forward, tensing as if ready to jump out and grab her if she tries to run away.

"You've always been so possessive, Kyuubi. Sanbi and I rarely had _any_ time to ourselves, with pawing at us insatiably at all hours. Well, I mean, before you—" Despite her easy tone, I can feel her body curling, readying itself as well.

Then she sets off at a sprint. "Catch me if you _can_, you stupid Kyuubi!"

* * *

**This is the Biju info I'm using, correct or not.**

**Format:** Name**–** (English translation of name) simple explanation of demon type. Jinchuuriki (if known).

**Ichibi (no Shukaku) – (**One Tailed Shukaku**) a raccoon dog. Gaara's Biju**.  
**Nibi (no Nekomata)– (**Two Tailed Nekomata**) a** **cat.  
Sanbi (no Isonade) – (**Three Tailed Isonade**) a** **shark. Ruukasu's Biju.  
Yonbi (no Soukou) – (**Four Tailed Soukou**) a orange half snake, half rooster.  
Gobi (no Houkou)– (**Five Tailed Houkou**) a dog.  
****Rokubi (no Raiju)– (**Six Tailed Raiju**) a cat made of lightning.** **Risu's Biju.  
Shichibi (no Kaku)– (**Seven Tailed Kaku**) ?  
Hachibi (no Hachimata)– (**Eight Tailed Hachimata**) a eight-headed serpent/dragon. Nataaria's Biju.  
Kyuubi (no Youko) – (**Nine Tailed Kitsune**) a fox.**** Naruto's Biju.**


End file.
